Filed Washington State Court of Appeals Division Two August 7, 2018 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON DIVISION II STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 50281-0-II Respondent, v. UNPUBLISHED OPINION THORMOD NMI SKALD, Appellant. MAXA, C.J. – Thormod Skald appeals his conviction of felony harassment – threat to kill with a special allegation of domestic violence regarding a threat he made to kill his former wife. We hold that the State presented sufficient evidence to establish that (1) Skald made statements that amounted to a true threat and (2) Gunnlaugsdottir was placed in reasonable fear that Skald would carry out his threat. We also hold that the claims Skald makes in a statement of additional grounds (SAG) lack merit. Accordingly, we affirm Skald’s conviction. FACTS Skald and Asta Gunnlaugsdottir met and married in Iceland in 2007 before moving to the United States. They subsequently had two children. They moved to Poulsbo in 2011 and opened an ice cream shop together. Gunnlaugsdottir eventually started feeling depressed and uncomfortable in the marriage. She testified that Skald was controlling and had a bad temper. On one occasion, Skald struck Gunnlaugsdottir across the back. In 2014, Gunnlaugsdottir went with the children to Iceland in an attempt to secure a loan for the ice cream business. While she was in Iceland, Gunnlaugsdottir decided that she wanted a No. 50281-0-II divorce. She filed for dissolution of the marriage in Washington in December 2014. The dissolution action involved ongoing custody issues. While the dissolution action was pending, Skald constantly discussed Gunnlaugsdottir with the ice cream shop’s employees, Anjela Hasseries and Amber Golding. Skald and Hasseries were close and shared a dark sense of humor. Hasseries testified that Skald first brought up problems with Gunnlaugsdottir in May 2015. Skald and Hasseries initially joked that hiring a hitman would be cheaper than hiring a lawyer. And Hasseries, who had medical issues at the time, joked that she could take Gunnlaugsdottir with her in a car and drive off a cliff. Hasseries testified that Skald was going through a lot and their jokes were a way to blow off steam. She explained, “So we would say it, we would laugh, and then we would move on.” Report of Proceedings (RP) at 86. Eventually, Skald’s discussions turned more serious. In March 2016, he told Golding that he wanted to poison Gunnlaugsdottir with the extract of a plant used to make rosary beads. This raised a red flag for Golding, but she tried to brush it off. She thought he was just angry about his custody issues. In July, Skald talked to Hasseries about poisoning Gunnlaugsdottir with dimethylmercury after watching a documentary in which a woman died a few months after getting that substance on her skin. Skald said that he could get some dimethylmercury on Gunnlaugsdottir’s skin, and then she would die after returning to Iceland and the death could not be traced to him. Hasseries was “really creeped out” by this conversation. RP at 88. Skald had a ...
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